Making sense of your numbers.
WHAT IT DOES WELL
Identifying patterns in data you provide Explaining what a figure means Suggesting what to investigate Structuring an analysis Writing the commentary
WHAT IT DOES BADLY
Arithmetic Anything requiring precision
HOW TO USE IT
Do the calculation in a spreadsheet. Give the model the result and ask what it means.
"Here are monthly sales by product for two years. What patterns do you see? What should I investigate?"
THE MOST USEFUL QUESTIONS
"What is surprising here?" "What would explain this change?" "What am I not looking at that I should be?"
WHAT TO VERIFY
Any figure it states back to you Any conclusion, against your own knowledge of the business
WHAT IT CANNOT KNOW
Why something happened. It sees the numbers, not the causes.
A drop it attributes to seasonality may have been a supplier failure.
THE PRACTICAL VALUE
Prompting you to look at data you have and do not examine.
